Bistol International Comic Expo schedule for May 12th & 13th

For the ninth successive year, the Bristol International Comic Expo is back in 2007, on May 12 and 13 at the British Empire & Commonwealth Exhibition Hall coupled with talks at the Ramada Plaza Hotel.

The Bristol International Comic Expo is the major comic event in the UK, a must-attend for all British comics fans, featuring not just the best British talents working in comics today, but a generous helping of international guests, many of whom are making their first appearances in the UK. It's a rare opportunity for British comics fans to meet, chat and socialise with the creative talents behind the books and characters they love, to obtain autographs and sketches, and to spend two days in the company of thousands of like-minded inddividuals. There's something at the Bristol International Comic Expo for everyone who loves comics, young and old, current fan or lapsed reader. Here's just a taster of what's going on in 2007:-

Special Guests:

Brian K Vaughan – Eisner Award winner. Harvey Award winner. Shuster Award winner. Writer of some of the most critically-acclaimed, intelligent comics of the past few years, including Y: The Last Man, The Runaways, Ex Machina and the superlative Pride of Baghdad graphic novel.

Kurt Busiek – Long-time award-winning writer on many past and current popular superhero series: The Avengers, Superman, Thunderbolts, JLA, Marvels, and possibly the series which is the last word in superheroes, Astro City.

Jean-Pierre Dionnet – Completes the triumvirate alongside Moebius and Druillet behind the revolutionary Metal Hurlant, inspiration to many generations of SF authors and filmmakers, including Ridley Scott for Blade Runner.

Jeffrey Brown – One of the most-highly regarded American "Small Press" cartoonists, Ignatz award winner for "I Am Going To Be Small" and the inspiration driving many in the UK comics scene. Famed for many books: "Bighead", "Clumsy", "Unlikely" are just a small selection. Jeffrey appears courtesy of Top Shelf Productions

Misako Rocks – Creator of Biker Girl and the upcoming Detective Jermain! and Rock N Roll Love, as well as the "As Know As" web animation for a Japanese clothing company, currently up to episode six.

The Eagles. Britain's longest running and most respected comics awards. The ceremony. The trophies. It's the British Eisners, it's back, it's at the Expo. Saturday night there's a special awards dinner, tickets are running out but the last few can be snapped up by a speedy email to martin@acecomics.co.uk – the nominations awards are being hosted at the following URL:-

The ceremony this year will be hosted by comedian Norman Lovett, aka Holly from Red Dwarf.

Hypotheticals. Hosted by Dave Gibbons and written by Lee "Budgie" Barnett, this is the eighth year of Hypotheticals and it's still going strong. Last year Geoff Johns, Liam Sharp, Shelly Bond, Jamie Boardman, Tony Lee and Jon Browne were put through the wringer…who's in the firing line this time around? Sample scripts from previous riots can be read online: http://www.hypotheticals.co.uk/

2030AD! 2007 is the 30th anniversary of Britain's best loved comic, 2000AD. Special panels – special guests – special charity event….more details to follow, but Bristol is the place to be to join in the celebrations.

>EXpo Exclusive Transformers: The Movie Prequel – in association with IDW Publishing, the Bristol International Comic Expo will exclusively have available this comic with the Comic Expo Variant Cover by Andrew Wildman. This is not available to order and will not be in the shops – only at the Bristol International Comic Expo.

Rising Stars of Manga UK The Third – Tokyopop will be launching their 3rd UK-specific RSoM competition, with full details and presentations only available at the Bristol International Comic Expo – congratulations to last year's winners John Aggs, Selina Dean, Hannah Saunders and Suzanne Lam: the playing field is wide open for a new year.

Self-Made Hero bring their first two manga-literature crossover titles to the Bristol International Comic Expo, with Hamlet and Romeo & Juliet – manga-style – hitting the show big-time. Artists Emma Vieceli and Sonia Leong will be on hand to sign and sketch at the Self-Made Hero stand all weekend. Writer William Shakespeare sadly had other commitments.

Also Manga-related, Sweatdrop Studios will be hosting a manga workshop on Sunday afternoon at the Bristol International Comic Expo – following on from the amazing success of the workshop last year. It's a one-stop-shop for any aspiring manga creator to see behind the scenes, pick up tips for their own work, and make contacts with one of the most productive manga collectives on the UK scene.

Charity Events:

The Bristol International Comic Expo is proud to be associated with the superb online support website www.bullying.co.uk which offers help and support to the victims of bullying. The charity is funded totally by contributions and we at the Bristol International Comic Expo are delighted to announce a very special fund raiser at the show!

Based on an suggestion from Craig at Silver Bullets and in association with Rebellion we will have a LIVE Charity Art Auction at the show which we are calling the 2030AD Art Auction. As part of our 30th anniversary celebration of Dredd and Co. We have some of the classic 2000AD Art Droids creating their favourite 2000AD heroes but with the twist of " what if they had aged that 30 years" ?

Dave Gibbons, Alan Davis, John Burns, Jock, Ian Gibson, Mark Buckingham, Bryan Talbot, Mike Collins, PJ Holden and one Carlos Ezquerra are busy working on their sketches, with special previews of the art appearing here and in 2000AD.

Totally unique and only at the Bristol International Comic Expo in support of Bullying.co.uk. Be there!

READ A MILLION WORDS launched in October 2004, during National Children's Book Week. It is a groundbreaking project, which sets a goal for every child to read a million words in a year. Backed by Bristol City Council the project and is committed to raising literacy standards amongst children in Bristol.

The project is endorsed by the National Literacy Trust and the Basic Skills Agency and is based at GWR FM, the leading commercial radio station in Bristol, which supports the project and has donated airtime.

Over 145 schools signed up for the challenge, and more than 40,000 children took part in Read a Million Words in the first year.

Now in year 3, Read a Million Words will have a major presence at the Bristol International Comic Expo including, workshops and reading/activity packs. More to be announced soon!

Can't make it to Bristol but want to know more about some of the exclusive books available? Trying to decide in advance which tables to spend how much time at? A bit scared of approaching the UK Comics tables, thinking there might be some "hard sell" to avoid? Or do you just want a sampler of some of the finest UK Comics around?

Welcome to the Virtual Bristol Anthology, a FREE online preview of many of the upcoming UK Comics attractions – if you're at the event, check this out to give yourself some idea of what books might be worth checking out in details – if you're not at the event, check it out to see if there's something that sparks your imagination and looks worthy of supporting further, incorporating a number of exhibitors already, with more to follow.

Top Shelf Productions are not only bringing across Jeffrey Brown as noted above, not only bringing their usual line-up of graphic novels, but also will be bringing several new 2007 releases, such as Nicolas Mahler's LONE RACER, Aleksandar Zograf's REGARDS FROM SERBIA, James Kochalka's AMERICAN ELF (BOOK 2) & SUPER F*CKERS #4, Jeff Lemire's TALES FROM THE FARM, Rene French's MICROGRAPHICA, Christian Slade's all-ages KORGI, and the all-new OWLY (VOL 4): A TIME TO BE BRAVE by Andy Runton.

Silver Bullets Comic Books and MangaLife have a table for the sixth successive year, and once again will be bringing along a set of "Officially Cheaper Than Amazon!" books and comics, but with only one copy of each – once they've gone, they've gone. It's the table the retailers shop at too…this year they are accepting reservations for books, email (craig@silverbulletcomicbooks.com) for a list of what will be available.

As usual, half the table space will be given over to promoting new and upcoming releases from self-publishers just starting out on their careers. This time, one of the new gals is Zoe Stead (http://zoestead.deviantart.com/) with her novel THE AMULET OF VICHALACE, plus more dark fantasy manga-esque work….more details to come.

Rob Jackson Comics will have a new issue of Random Journeys: issue three is the final, concluding part of this series, and all three issues will be available as a value pack to purchase in one go – along with some of RJC's earlier publications.

Rufus Dayglo will bring along some vintage 2000AD art to the show, some prime pieces available to buy which should be snapped up quickly…and he's also working on some new projects for 2000AD and IDW, which could be available to check out in preview form…before anyone else gets to see them.

ACE Comics, our perennial supporters, bring virtually their entire shop to the Bristol International Comic Expo – as last year, it's shelves, it's tables, it's a real walk-in shop in the Expo itself. Trades, new releases, bargain 50p comics from 2006 (mainly DC, Dark Horse and IDW). Two special signings will be held at the ACE stand – Barry Kitson and John Watson.

Polycomical make their first appearance at the Bristol International Comic Expo. They are an online subscription comic studio, dedicated to new twists on the comic genre. Their first title is Reynard City, best described as "Watership Down On Acid", which can be previewed at: www.reynardcity.co.uk

Orang Utan Comics is not a publisher or a studio, it is a comics collective - essentially a group of artists and writers who are on the cusp of breaking into the comics industry. 11th Hour is their anthology title, which will showcase the talent within Orang Utan Comics. It will be a mix of short stories and also sneak previews of our larger projects and properties. Issue 1 launches at the Bristol International Comic Expo and features an international rosta of talent:-

Supernatural drama Purgatory Blues features Tanzanian artist Azim Akberali (Eye of the Storm, Vampires Unlimited), vampire tale Bloodstain showcases the work of Portugese artist Nuno Nobre, Scotsman Tom Walsh draws post apocalyptic tale Brothers in Arms and Phillipino Randy Valiente (Bronx Angel), provides us with a sneak peak into the superhero world of Young Gods. There is a possibility that a Slam Ridley preview will also feature with an artist that will be unveiled nearer the time along with one more short story. The first 11th Hour cover will be provided by Austrian tattooist and album cover artist Franke and features stories written by Ian Sharman (Smoke & Mirror, Shadowmancer) and Peter Rogers (Eye of the Storm).

Flying Monkey Comics, aka Simon Perrins and Andrew Livesey, will be bringing ongoing series Hope For The Future, as well as the first trade collection of the issues one through eight. A number of their webcomics are currently available from their site, along with this animated Halloween special with singing zombies: http://www.flyingmonkeycomics.co.uk/index.php?cid=47

Will Dunlop brings Phoenix Handmade Books & Journals to the Bristol International Comic Expo for a second year – individually crafted unique copper covers for diaries/books/sketchbooks at competitive prices, Will's challenge is to craft anything the purchaser desires…any hero, any villain, any characters. www.phoenixac.4t.com is his website for some ideas of previous commissions.

Linoleum Press will be attending for the third year running, with Kel, Joel, Cam and Rich manning the table providing a wide selection from their range www.Linoleum-press.com – along with a number of customised surfboards courtesy of www.EcticShortys.com … these will be drawn on and personalised over the course of the weekend. Also the 3rd Annual Comic Jam will be happening on the Saturday night in the Ramada Plaza with DJs to be confirmed and loads of cool things to draw on. More details on all of this in our next update.

Jimmy Bott, artist of the Marvel/Dabel Brothers' original Graphic Novel "Half-Dead", will be in artist alley all weekend to sign copies of the book, do sketches and generally chat about the book, Marvel and life in general. Jamie Delano: "As if the tube wasn't already edgy enough, what with suicide bombers and police execution squads... now we have terrorist vampires to contend with too. But at least the victims of vampire gas attacks are rendered only half dead and get their chance to join in the fun. Intelligently written and well-drawn, this book promises opportunities not only for fast-paced entertainment, but also a darker ironic subtext to the 'long war' of the 21st Century".

About the Bristol International Comic Expo 2006

Organised by Mike Allwood, the Bristol Expo is the longest-running and most successful comics event in the UK ever. Advance tickets are available through the official website at a bargain price (£5 per day for an adult ticket, children 10 and under FREE, children 11 to 16 just £1). The Ramada Plaza hotel offers special Expo rates, see the website for details.